True Womanhood

While reading John Piper's sermon at the True Woman Conference today at www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/ConferenceMessages/ByDate/2008/3296_The_Ultimate_Meaning_of_True_Womanhood/,
I was prompted to think about how my wife Janet exemplifies a godly woman, a woman who trusts in Christ and serves others with a compassionate heart. Normally, I do not think much about what it means to be a woman, since I am a man and I am trying to teach my son to become a godly man someday, too. However, I would like for my son to marry a godly woman in the future, so it is important to think about what true womanhood is.

I thought back to when we were waiting for someone to choose us as adoptive parents for a child. We were leading home Bible studies at an apartment complex through the urban ministry that eventually evolved into the Contact Church of Christ. I was teaching the adults while Janet was teaching the children. After a while, we found out that the mother of one of the boys who was coming to the Bible study was expecting another baby. Due to complications with her pregnancy, she could not leave her apartment except for doctor's appointments. At the same time, the mother of some of the other children who were attending the Bible study was expecting a child, too.

Each Monday evening, an hour before we would start the Bible study, we would take some food to the mother who could not leave her apartment, and enjoy dinner with her. For the most part, I would eat my meal, while Janet and the woman would talk. Then, we would go to the apartment where we would conduct the Bible study, but often Janet would stop and talk to the other woman (who was rumored to be a prostitute) along the way.

Eventually, the children were born. The woman who had been confined to her apartment had a healthy baby girl, but the other woman had a baby boy with Down syndrome. When Janet realized that neither woman had been given a baby shower, she organized a shower for both of them, inviting the women of the Jenks Church to join with her in celebrating the lives of the newborn babies.

Although we continued to wait for the opportunity to become parents, Janet did not become bitter. Instead, she reached out to a couple of mothers who were struggling. She saw that they had no family or friends who could help with their newborn children, so she made sure that they received tons of the essentials needed for the first several months of their lives. Janet did not let her needs prevent her from connecting with others to meet their needs. She displayed Christ-honoring compassion and faith, the marks of a truly good woman.

I hope that my future daughter-in-law will share my wife's character. If she does, Christopher will be a very blessed young man.